E-Bodies.org Cuda Challenger Forum

Technical Shop => Electrical & Audio => Topic started by: 73TopBanana on November 15, 2021, 12:54:06 PM

Title: Exterior bulbs
Post by: 73TopBanana on November 15, 2021, 12:54:06 PM
Afternoon all, 73 challenger, front turn signal bulb. Replaced the clear 1157 bulb with an amber 1157A as shown on the bulb chart.
The blinker works, however, when head lights are on the bulb does not light up when not blinking.
Am i using the correct bulb? Should the bulb have any other model numbers or letters on it?
As usual thanks to all my Mopar colleagues.
Title: Re: Exterior bulbs
Post by: 71383bee on November 16, 2021, 09:57:45 AM
Is it an LED replacement?  If so you need to get a new digital flasher.  Be sure to get one with neutral polarity or the wiring in the connector needs to be swapped.

Otherwise it could be a grounding issue.


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Title: Re: Exterior bulbs
Post by: 70rag383 on November 16, 2021, 10:48:05 AM
Over the last weekend I had the same problem - my left turn signal worked but the parking light did not work. I removed the housing from the car. I could not remove the bulb as it was very corroded so I ended up breaking the bulb and removing it with some pliers.  I cleaned up the contacts in the housing with some steel wool, applied some dielectric cleaner and dielectric grease and then installed a new bulb.  I did the same to the right-side housing which had a lot of corrosion too. Worked like a charm and was a simple fix. The bulbs are the original 1157 factory spec and not LED replacements.  I'm thinking of going to LEDs for reduced heat.   
Title: Re: Exterior bulbs
Post by: 73TopBanana on November 16, 2021, 11:15:38 AM
Thanks 71 Bee, am using old style bulbs
Title: Re: Exterior bulbs
Post by: 73TopBanana on November 16, 2021, 11:18:01 AM
Thanks Rag, did you install the clear 1157 or amber 1157A, maybe i should switch back to clear.
Trial & error, the usual... :unitedstates: :canada:
Title: Re: Exterior bulbs
Post by: MoparLeo on November 16, 2021, 11:56:13 AM
A good illustration on why you should clean all electrical connections on your car. Including harness connections and all bulbs.
Title: Re: Exterior bulbs
Post by: Filthy Filbert on November 16, 2021, 03:24:50 PM
If they're not LED bulbs, that' rules out a polarity mis-match, which I have seen when swapping LED bulbs into vehicles that did not originally have LED bulbs.

Which means only 1 thing...  You have a bad ground.   The light is backfeeding through the parking light circuit.  When you apply voltage to the parking light circuit, it's unable to go to ground because the voltage drop between the 2 is 0 volts when you need a drop of 12 volts to get the light to illuminate.

fix yo grounds!
Title: Re: Exterior bulbs
Post by: 73TopBanana on November 16, 2021, 03:27:24 PM
Thanks Filthy/Mopar Leo and the rest
Title: Re: Exterior bulbs
Post by: 70rag383 on November 17, 2021, 12:14:39 PM
Quote from: 73TopBanana on November 16, 2021, 11:18:01 AM
Thanks Rag, did you install the clear 1157 or amber 1157A, maybe i should switch back to clear.
Trial & error, the usual... :unitedstates: :canada:
I went with clear bulbs, 1157.